Friday, March 03, 2000
New area code forces changes
10-digit dialing will accompany new 859 prefix
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It's just three little digits, but switching Northern Kentucky's area code from 606 to 859 will mean a lot of changes for businesses and residents on April 1.
“When you think of everything that has your area code on it, that's a pretty big deal,” said Gary Toebben, president of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. “It'll mean changing everything from business cards and preprogrammed numbers to signs on trucks.”
The change involves 19 Kentucky counties, including Boone, Campbell and Kenton.
If that change isn't enough, Greater Cincinnati residents also will have to get used to pushing 10 buttons when they call nearby out-of-state numbers, even though Cincinnati-to-Northern Kentucky and Northern Kentucky-to-Cincinnati calls will still be toll-free.
The switch to 10-digit dialing is being done because Cin cinnati Bell is running out of numbers. It will allow the company to assign numbers with identical prefixes to customers on both sides of the Ohio River, said Libby Korosec, a spokeswoman for Cincinnati Bell.
“You won't have to dial 1, and it won't be a toll call,” she said. “You'll just have to dial the area code and the seven-digit number whenever you call across a state line.”
While both changes take effect on April 1, Northern Kentucky calls made using the old 606 area code, or out-of-state calls that aren't made with the 10-digit code automatically, will be forwarded between April 1 and Oct. 1, Ms. Korosec said.
On Oct. 1, that permissive dialing period ends, and Greater Cincinnati callers who use the wrong area code, or fail to dial 10 digits when calling nearby out-of-state numbers, will hear recorded messages advising them of the changes, she said.
The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce recently developed a checklist of changes residents and businesses should do by Oct. 1.
They include:
• Reprogramming speed dials on phones, fax machines, and computers.
• Notifying customers of all phone and fax number changes, so that they can change their data bases.
• Reprinting business cards, letterheads, personal and business checks, brochures, catalogs, promotional items, labels and pamphlets.
At the Oceanic Adventures Newport Aquarium, which opened last May, the new area code means changing thousands of dollars worth of directional materials, pamphlets, letterheads, business cards and media kits.
“If we'd only gotten a heads-up at this time last year, we could have scaled back our production runs,” said Lisa Popyk, aquarium spokes woman. “Because we were brand new, we ordered an awful lot of material, including some that was supposed to be good for two years.”
• Reprogramming all voice mail, PBXs, electronic phone sets, and alarm systems.
• Repainting company trucks and signs and updating web sites.
The economic impact of the area code change has been estimated by the chamber to be $25.9 million.
That includes the direct and indirect effects for business sales and output in the Northern Kentucky counties of Kenton, Boone and Campbell.
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